North Korea has staged a massive military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, its state media said Friday, displaying its latest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and drones in a show of its military might.

With senior officials from China and Russia present, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took to the reviewing stand to observe the military parade in Pyongyang late Thursday to mark Victory Day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

With their presence at the parade, the North apparently aimed to show its solidarity with Beijing and Moscow, which backed Pyongyang during the Cold War-era conflict, as Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are bolstering three-way security cooperation.

Kim did not deliver a much-anticipated speech at the event.

The Korean War, which started with an invasion by the North in 1950, ended with the armistice on July 27, 1953. But the North claimed victory in the war, celebrating the date of the armistice signing as Victory Day.

The recalcitrant regime has used the parades to flaunt its military capabilities by displaying new high-tech weapons. The latest parade, the second in about five months, came amid heightened tensions caused by Pyongyang’s continued missile tests.

At the parade, the North showcased new advanced drones and long-range missiles, including Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 ICBMs. But it did not introduce new types of ICBMs.

“The strategic reconnaissance drones and multi-purpose attack drones that were newly developed and produced …made circular flights in the sky above the square for the military parade,” the KCNA said.

The North also described the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBMs as “the most powerful core mainstay means” of its strategic force to “fully and overwhelmingly” deter nuclear threats by its enemies.

North Korea has invited Chinese and Russian officials to its celebrations, marking its first known foreign visitors since Pyongyang’s tight border closure over the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Li Hongzhong, a politburo member of the Chinese Communist Party, stood together with the North’s leader in the VIP stand to observe the parade.

Observers note that such imagery signals the virtual condonation by China and Russia, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), over the North’s pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missiles banned under multiple council resolutions.

In particular, Kim and Shoigu vowed to strengthen defense cooperation during their talks this week. The meeting has sparked speculation that the two sides may have discussed Pyongyang’s arms supplies for use in Moscow’s war with Ukraine.

The North’s leader also gave Shoigu a tour of an arms exhibition Wednesday, which showcased new advanced weapons, including ICBMs and an unmanned aerial vehicle that appears to be modeled after the U.S. Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.

In a speech delivered at the parade, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam warned that the U.S. will face an “unimaginable and unforeseen crisis” if it attempts to conduct a nuclear strike against the North.

“The U.S. imperialists have no room of choice of survival in case they use nuclear weapons against the DPRK,” Kang said, using the acronym of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korea has recently been ramping up weapons tests, as Seoul and Washington are stepping up efforts to bolster America’s extended deterrence commitment to mobilizing the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.

The North has fired more than 100 ballistic missiles since last year, including Hwasong-18 ICBMs. The solid-fuel ICBM type is among the high-tech weapons that the North has vowed to develop, which also includes a military spy satellite and a nuclear-powered submarine.

Pyongyang warned that a U.S. nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine’s recent port visit to South Korea could meet legal conditions for its use of nuclear weapons.

In September, the Kim regime enacted a new nuclear law authorizing the preemptive use of nuclear arms, calling its status of a nuclear state “irreversible.”

At a key party meeting held last December, the North’s leader called for an “exponential” increase in its nuclear arsenal and the development of tactical nuclear weapons that targets its “undoubted enemy” of South Korea.

Under Kim’s rule, the North has staged 14 military parades, including this week’s event. The last parade was held in February to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces, and the country introduced the Hwasong-18 ICBM for the first time during the parade.

Source: Yonhap News Agency